I Think Alot About Serizawa.

I think alot about serizawa.

that he's so powerful and so sensitive, and how he's the very common Shonen anime trope of "villain with tragic backstory who just needed friends and is won over to the hero's side after the hero listens to them and shows them kindness" but like, his tragic backstory is so grounded in places others just aren't? like, he just didn't want to hurt anybody, so he hid himself away. that's so simple, yet so poignant and painful, so...normal. its such a common emotion, such a common solution. its not a healthy one or a "good" one, but its all he had...and then at some point, his self-imposed isolation became so hurtful to him that it caused him to become vulnerable to exploitation. to manipulation, and he became a weapon in a never ending cycle of violence, until someone was kind enough to listen to him, to want to help him.

and then i think about the fact that that person was just a child who had experienced the exact same struggle but was provided tools by people who loved him to help manage his problems....and it honestly makes me so emotional. because, like, it's a perfect allegory for how living with mental illness affects people.

serizawa is older than mob, so the society he grew up in didn't know how to handle his powers (mental illness/neurodivergency), but now, as times have changed and society has become increasingly more aware, it opens the pathway for people to find strength together, to have people in their lives that understand that they need kindess, they need love, that their mental illness isnt something bad or wrong.

but even more than that, they know that their differences do not make them bad people, they are not something to be shunned and hidden away, but just something to be worked through. just a unique aspect of how that person is, and it's neither good nor bad, just how they are.

and then i think about how serizawa didn't have anyone like that in his life until he was 30, and how those years of isolation and then manipulation (which caused him to do the very thing he was afraid of), how all of that could have broken him could have made him unloving, could have made him bitter. but instead, he overcame his fears, his guilt, his shame, and under all of that, he's just kind.

when i get really afraid, of myself, of the world, when i want to myself hide away and never leave my bed, my room, i think of him, and i feel so comforted, so much less alone.

what a wonderful man, written so gently, so lovingly. it's so rare to see a grown man with a stigmatized symptom of mental illness depicted in such a kind way, it makes me want to hug ONE through a phone screen.

anyway, uh. yeah katsuya. i think he's pretty neat.

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doodlenorth

2 years ago

reblog this to show you did your civic duty

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doodlenorth

2 years ago

I CRY LAUGH EVERYTIME SOMEONE DRAWS HIM WITH THE ARCH SOBBING

various drawings of Reigen Arataka from Mob Psycho 100. They're all done in simple black lineart, with characters colored in grey. In this first drawing Reigen is holding a sheet of paper that says "#1 character that invites the most hostility in people" with a stressed expression. Behind him are various images at half opacity: a post by StupidReigenPics of Reigen edited to be in a cardboard box, which is labeled "everytime you repost he gets kicked down the fucking stairs"; A drawing by ONE of Mob punching Reigen in the face; a voting map of the USA with all the states in beige and "fuck you" written at the top; some reviews for a Reigen plushie, with closeup shots of the plush and one of someone gripping it tightly by the throat. This image also has text that says: "Read reviews that mention: ugly, plush, rat, reigen, spirits, bastard, evil, smelly, wall". The final image is tumblr user Ritzu's response to an anonymous ask: anon asks, "if reigen isn't a twink what is he then?" and ritzu answers, "ugly".

Reigen standing with a bored expression, holding a cup in one hand. He is drawn with a rectangular body shape. To the left is a different drawing of Reigen, showing him from behind with his hand on his hip and hips cocked to emphasize his ass, which has sparkles around it. He has a more cinched waist also. An arrow with two exclamation marks points from the first Reigen to the second one, and is labeled "what fandom does to a mid unremarkable businessman!!"

Reigen on his hands and knees in an agonized pose, his forearms flat on the floor and his hands clenched into fists. A spilled bowl of takoyaki is on the ground on front of him. It's raining.

This image has two parts. First Reigen is shown sitting behind his desk, leaning back in his chair with one leg crossed over the other. He has a serious expression and monologues: "Hmph… I am pretty much a lone wolf… I've not felt the need for the company of a significant other… I am quite adept at taking care of my own, you see… I am what they would call a man in the frontlines… a 'sigma male', if you will although I don't necessarily ascribe to their ideology… I just don't think anyone could fulfill my romantic desires…" Then Serizawa walks into the room and waves, saying, "good morning!" Reigen's demeanor immediately changes, and he turns to grin at Serizawa, kneeling on his chair and leaning his elbows on his desk with his hands holding his chin. He's kicking his legs as he says, "omg!!! good morning serizawa!!!!" in a loopy speech bubble that has hearts and sparkles in and around it.

(Thank you @peachygos for the descriptions!)

low effort reigen doodles to combat my lethargy

edit: added alt text, thank you @peachygos for the descriptions!

edit 2: to everyone saying "studio bones started it" yeah i know. but arent we all the fools who are playing right along their little game

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doodlenorth

2 years ago

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doodlenorth

2 years ago

something I love about the mob psycho finale was the implication of when Shigeo called Reigen a stranger, dismissing absolutely everything he had ever done for him, but the thing is, he was not wrong at all. the point is that both Shigeo and Mob are right, Reigen has helped him through so much, he doesn't see him any differently despite his powers, but he also is a liar and a fraud. a stranger, even.

using the word stranger is actually such a powerful thing to mention at all because it implies that they both showed sides of eachother that they regarded to be their "fake" selves, the persona they put up to mask their true feelings and intentions.

when Reigen says "this is the real me", he's not referring to just anything. he's saying he's not putting up that mask he always puts around everyone and that he's letting Shigeo, all of him, the good and the bad, see him for who he truly is, just like how Reigen saw all of him now. he's saying he's letting him see all of him instead of hiding it like he used to before, without Shigeo having to pry it out of him. they both know eachother so well, but at the same time, they don't know each other at all. they're the closest person they have to one another and yet they also don't know a fucking thing.

and that's the point. they'll learn about each other and themselves as they go along, trusting that the other will accept all of them, because that's what it's all about. it's all about trust and making connections, relationships that help you develop and become a better person, and I think that's beautiful. I just... love this story, man.

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doodlenorth

2 years ago

SHE IS LITERALLY SO SILLY I ADORE HER

"we need reigen for women" this, "reigen but a girl" that. you fool. she is already canon to mob psycho 100. her name is TOME KURATA you will RESPECT her

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doodlenorth

2 years ago

One of my favorite minor details about Reigen in Mob Psycho is how he always protects his head when it is about to hit something

Where did you get that reaction from you funky little man

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doodlenorth

2 years ago

Okay but now I really want to draw our OCS together with Cedar being introduced to Al in order to help him gather evidence on cases since his job is already to help Sally and the police commissioner keep tabs on villains (except it usually ends up with him handing over huge files absolutely full to the brim of incriminating evidence for the defendant 💀)

Do you have a design for ur lawyer oc? Asking for a friend 👉👈

HERE HE IS IN ALL HIS GLORY

His name is Michael A. Practis, but he goes by Al (like. like um. LIKE. like malpractice. ok thank you)

He's a defense lawyer who recently moved into Fair City, and didn't realize that the place was just... full of villains. And new villains pop up like every day. He also didn't realize they would just SAY they're villains, loud and proud, and that REALLY ruins his chances of a successful trial.

I'd say he's about fresh outta college, around 25 yrs old, and has... SO many life regrets already. Despite that, he has, like. An abnormally large amount of skills? Or interests at least, that he'd probably make a good villain himself being a sort of jack of all trades, but he's sort of resigned himself to just.......... being a shitty lawyer who can’t win a case.

Sally Botsford is also his enemy but like, completely one-sidedly. Sally is just out here getting that COIN.

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doodlenorth

2 years ago